The RAM 1500 Laramie Crew Cab fuses “luxury” and “pickup truck”

I have an inordinate fondness for trucks. I learned to drive in a 1978 Chevy Suburban and drove an ’88 Ford Ranger for years. However, in recent years, my selection of vehicles has been restrained by my wife’s insistence on this thing called “practicality”—we are city dwellers, and despite the sometimes post-apocalyptic terrain of Baltimore streets, Paula has resisted the wisdom of driving something huge with a cargo capacity suitable for evacuating survivors. I wanted a pickup, and she wanted a Subaru. So we compromised. We got a Subaru. But when the 2019 RAM 1500 Laramie Crew Cab 4×4 arrived for my test drive—$60,190, as tested—I gained an ally in my pickup-truck cause. “This is my dream car… I mean, truck,” my 17-year-old daughter said as she climbed up into the expansive cab and sat in one of the vented, leather-trimmed front seats. Over the course of a week, we tested the truck on city streets, country roads, and highways. I had to pry my daughter out after the last ride. Cowboy Cadillac The truck came in all black, minus its chromed exterior trim. While I found the Laramie’s aesthetics well-suited to the role of luxury pickup, my wife Paula was not effusive about its curb appeal. She commented that the design of its grille “makes it look like Kylo Ren.” The inside, however, got high marks from everyone. The RAM 1500 Laramie is a luxury pickup to be sure, with full leather trim, chromed-metal fixtures, and a huge bench seat… [Read full story]